This Wednesday - I'll be in Tulsa all day meeting with vendors. It's going to be action-packed!
9am - florist
11am - string quartet
230pm - venue
430pm - engagement pictures*
*we might put the engagement pictures off one more week - just because I'll be so busy, and I don't want to look all frazzled in the pictures! :)
*sigh* I'd better rest up for the week ahead!
-b
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Lune de miel
So many people have asked about our honeymoon - here are the details...
We are going to the El Dorado Royale in Riveria Maya, Mexico. That is right near Cancun. It is a couples only, all inclusive resort. We have reserved an infinity pool swim up casita - which basically means that we have our own little house with our own infinity pool, and someone to bring us drinks with umbrellas in them.
It will be a week-long visit to paradise! And I'm looking forward to the rest and relaxation with my brand new husband! :)
Feel free to be jealous.
-a
We are going to the El Dorado Royale in Riveria Maya, Mexico. That is right near Cancun. It is a couples only, all inclusive resort. We have reserved an infinity pool swim up casita - which basically means that we have our own little house with our own infinity pool, and someone to bring us drinks with umbrellas in them.
It will be a week-long visit to paradise! And I'm looking forward to the rest and relaxation with my brand new husband! :)
Feel free to be jealous.
-a
Monday, October 13, 2008
this one goes out to my audience of one....
We are ready to send out invitations.
Stress: Amber, you're going to forget to send these to important people and hurt their feelings. You're going to mess up more than you have extras to cover. People are going to think these are ugly and cheesy.
Me: But, Stress... I've worked very hard on my spreadsheets, and my address book is more up-to-date now than it has ever been, AND I think the invitations are gorgeous!
Stress: Go eat some chocolate.
Me: sigh
Thus the cycle of invitation mailing has begun.
-a
Stress: Amber, you're going to forget to send these to important people and hurt their feelings. You're going to mess up more than you have extras to cover. People are going to think these are ugly and cheesy.
Me: But, Stress... I've worked very hard on my spreadsheets, and my address book is more up-to-date now than it has ever been, AND I think the invitations are gorgeous!
Stress: Go eat some chocolate.
Me: sigh
Thus the cycle of invitation mailing has begun.
-a
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Cha-ching.
Despite appearances - what is most important to me is not ribbon, tulle, the meal at the reception, the bar bill, or the wedding gown. I do not care if people leave our wedding saying "I've been to nicer, ritzier weddings".
What is most important to me is that I will get to marry my best friend, and that he and I will be together for the rest of our lives.
That is the most important thing.
That having been stated - it bears noting that we are planning a non-small wedding. And, thanks in part to our age and relative success - we are footing the majority of the bill. (not to diminish AT ALL the contributions that we have received - they are VERY MUCH appreciated) Here's why that's stressful for us... Weddings are ridiculously expensive. And these vendors know that they can play on your emotions VERY easily. "It's your one special day" "How many times are you going to have a wedding?" "If you don't want to splurge on your wedding, I can understand that" SHEESH! It's evil profiteering, and at the same time - they are not wrong. This is our special day, and we want it to be unforgettable, and wonderful, and magical...
I'm just going to have to continue to remind myself that 50 years from now, the 3 hours of enjoyment I might have gotten from having chair covers at the reception will not make a difference one way or another. What will make a difference is whether or not Alex and I make the choice every day to be participants in our marriage, and to love one another above all else. So - at some point, I'm going to need to let go of the 100% fairy tale wedding, and go with more of a hybrid - 50% fairy tale, and 50% realistic.
Oh - and I have GOT to stop watching Platinum Weddings. (For those who have never seen it - it's about people who spend more than a quarter of a million dollars on their weddings... I am elated to report that we are nowhere even close to a fraction of that amount!)
So - scaling back a bit is what's in order here. As is true with make-up, let's hope that weddings benefit from the "less is more" approach. :)
What is most important to me is that I will get to marry my best friend, and that he and I will be together for the rest of our lives.
That is the most important thing.
That having been stated - it bears noting that we are planning a non-small wedding. And, thanks in part to our age and relative success - we are footing the majority of the bill. (not to diminish AT ALL the contributions that we have received - they are VERY MUCH appreciated) Here's why that's stressful for us... Weddings are ridiculously expensive. And these vendors know that they can play on your emotions VERY easily. "It's your one special day" "How many times are you going to have a wedding?" "If you don't want to splurge on your wedding, I can understand that" SHEESH! It's evil profiteering, and at the same time - they are not wrong. This is our special day, and we want it to be unforgettable, and wonderful, and magical...
I'm just going to have to continue to remind myself that 50 years from now, the 3 hours of enjoyment I might have gotten from having chair covers at the reception will not make a difference one way or another. What will make a difference is whether or not Alex and I make the choice every day to be participants in our marriage, and to love one another above all else. So - at some point, I'm going to need to let go of the 100% fairy tale wedding, and go with more of a hybrid - 50% fairy tale, and 50% realistic.
Oh - and I have GOT to stop watching Platinum Weddings. (For those who have never seen it - it's about people who spend more than a quarter of a million dollars on their weddings... I am elated to report that we are nowhere even close to a fraction of that amount!)
So - scaling back a bit is what's in order here. As is true with make-up, let's hope that weddings benefit from the "less is more" approach. :)
CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES, C'MON!
We booked a DJ.
We wanted to go with the company for which I worked during the end of high school and beginning of college, but unfortunately, I would never get them to return my phone calls or emails. So we went with a competitor.
It's going to be great! This company charges less and offers more. I'm thinking the reception is going to be the can't miss party of the season. (At least - for Alex and me!)
I have an appointment with a potential florist on Wednesday this week. I'm a little scared about how much flowers might end up costing me. Especially since they are an item that I care less about than so many other details. (This is obvious, of course, because I've left them till almost last to deal with)
Today and tomorrow my hope is to sit down, and work the numbers. I want to know how much of our budget is left over, and just how scary this whole thing has gotten. We're very close to 100% planned and deposited - so I'm hoping there's enough left to stretch the last 3-5%.
We wanted to go with the company for which I worked during the end of high school and beginning of college, but unfortunately, I would never get them to return my phone calls or emails. So we went with a competitor.
It's going to be great! This company charges less and offers more. I'm thinking the reception is going to be the can't miss party of the season. (At least - for Alex and me!)
I have an appointment with a potential florist on Wednesday this week. I'm a little scared about how much flowers might end up costing me. Especially since they are an item that I care less about than so many other details. (This is obvious, of course, because I've left them till almost last to deal with)
Today and tomorrow my hope is to sit down, and work the numbers. I want to know how much of our budget is left over, and just how scary this whole thing has gotten. We're very close to 100% planned and deposited - so I'm hoping there's enough left to stretch the last 3-5%.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Wedding bands
For those of you who are only keeping up through this blog - you'll be happy to know that the whole situation with my engagement ring, although a complete disaster, ended during the first week of May, and I do have my diamond on my finger.
Suffice it to say that the designer with whom we worked will no longer be a person we would recommend to anyone. Furthermore, I am wearing just a plain band, instead of a custom piece now - because we have been a little too burned. We are going to give ourselves perhaps a year or two to recover before trying the whole custom thing again.
Yesterday, we went to our new jeweler - J. David in Broken Arrow - and purchased our wedding bands. Because I don't want to ruin it for anyone, I will not describe them - but rather wait until you all see them in December.
But they are both beautiful. Well, mine is beautiful... Alex's is handsome. :)
We still have no DJ. I need to get on that. AND I need to finalize the chair covers, etc... FLOWERS! I need to meet with the florist. But I have a florist in mind, and I think I know what I want to do for the flowers. (But in the past few days, my tastes have been evolving. SCARY!)
We did have our tasting at the Renaissance. We are going to be serving Asiago chicken and shrimp with tomato and artichoke mashed potatoes and green beans. It was REALLY delicious! We were so impressed with our tasting. They had a room all set up with a table, and the sign outside of the room said "McMeen Gates Wedding Tasting". We had a dedicated waitress - and it was pamper-city all the way. :)
We have also worked on narrowing down options for our rehearsal dinner. Which reminds me - if you are going to be coming into town and staying Friday night before the wedding, please let me know! I need to know what kind of numbers we will be dealing with.
In fact - what would be great would be if everyone would forward their travel itineraries to me with an indication of whether or not they will need airport to hotel transportation.
Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE to make spread sheets... So - feed my addiction, and give me data! ;)
Summer is upon us, and I know December will be here before we know it. (Just think, it was nearly 6 months ago that we began this blog... seems like only yesterday)
-B
Suffice it to say that the designer with whom we worked will no longer be a person we would recommend to anyone. Furthermore, I am wearing just a plain band, instead of a custom piece now - because we have been a little too burned. We are going to give ourselves perhaps a year or two to recover before trying the whole custom thing again.
Yesterday, we went to our new jeweler - J. David in Broken Arrow - and purchased our wedding bands. Because I don't want to ruin it for anyone, I will not describe them - but rather wait until you all see them in December.
But they are both beautiful. Well, mine is beautiful... Alex's is handsome. :)
We still have no DJ. I need to get on that. AND I need to finalize the chair covers, etc... FLOWERS! I need to meet with the florist. But I have a florist in mind, and I think I know what I want to do for the flowers. (But in the past few days, my tastes have been evolving. SCARY!)
We did have our tasting at the Renaissance. We are going to be serving Asiago chicken and shrimp with tomato and artichoke mashed potatoes and green beans. It was REALLY delicious! We were so impressed with our tasting. They had a room all set up with a table, and the sign outside of the room said "McMeen Gates Wedding Tasting". We had a dedicated waitress - and it was pamper-city all the way. :)
We have also worked on narrowing down options for our rehearsal dinner. Which reminds me - if you are going to be coming into town and staying Friday night before the wedding, please let me know! I need to know what kind of numbers we will be dealing with.
In fact - what would be great would be if everyone would forward their travel itineraries to me with an indication of whether or not they will need airport to hotel transportation.
Those of you who know me well know that I LOVE to make spread sheets... So - feed my addiction, and give me data! ;)
Summer is upon us, and I know December will be here before we know it. (Just think, it was nearly 6 months ago that we began this blog... seems like only yesterday)
-B
Sunday, April 20, 2008
It was all very Donald Trump, if you ask me...
Or, not really.
It was more like a train wreck.
We fired our ring designer on Friday evening. More accurately, we attempted to fire our ring designer on Friday evening. He would not be fired. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it was how it went down.
I called him, and told him he should just give our diamonds and gold to Rick or my Mom, and that we were going to take them someplace else. His reaction was anything but professional. It ranged from self-righteous indignation to him accusing me of being unrealistic to him saying he was "closed for the weekend" and that it would take longer for us to "get lawyers and police involved than for him to just finish the ring".
It boils down to this. He yelled at me. He told me that he treated me like family, and that he couldn't believe I had so little faith in him. My response was that we started this process in November, and that every time he gives us a date for something to be completed, when that date comes, he pushes it back a week.
Because he yelled at me, I am done. I will not speak to him on the phone again. If it is ever necessary for he and I to communicate, it will be done in writing. Marmee to the rescue. She is going to be the one to do the talking with him from here out. I don't want Alex to do it, because I honestly think this guy will purposely try to provoke Alex into a fight. So - Mom is going to get either a finished product, or all of the components by this coming Wednesday.
What we've decided is that we're just going to take the diamond and have it set in a plain solitaire for now. When we can afford to, we'll go through a new design process with a different designer. For now - we just want our diamond back, and we want it to be on my finger where it belongs.
I can't tell you how awkward it is to say, "my fiance..." and then people look immediately at my finger. Then, I have to explain at least part of the whole bitter story.
Suffice it to say, Alex and I aren't planning on using any more family friends for anything. Wedding or otherwise. The reason? If something is unsatisfactory - we need to be able to NOT worry about the relationship, and just worry about getting what we have paid for.
This ring thing has been a NIGHTMARE just almost start to finish. We both hope that this was our huge obstacle - and the rest of the wedding planning will go smoothly. :) We can dream, can't we??
-b
It was more like a train wreck.
We fired our ring designer on Friday evening. More accurately, we attempted to fire our ring designer on Friday evening. He would not be fired. I know this sounds ridiculous, but it was how it went down.
I called him, and told him he should just give our diamonds and gold to Rick or my Mom, and that we were going to take them someplace else. His reaction was anything but professional. It ranged from self-righteous indignation to him accusing me of being unrealistic to him saying he was "closed for the weekend" and that it would take longer for us to "get lawyers and police involved than for him to just finish the ring".
It boils down to this. He yelled at me. He told me that he treated me like family, and that he couldn't believe I had so little faith in him. My response was that we started this process in November, and that every time he gives us a date for something to be completed, when that date comes, he pushes it back a week.
Because he yelled at me, I am done. I will not speak to him on the phone again. If it is ever necessary for he and I to communicate, it will be done in writing. Marmee to the rescue. She is going to be the one to do the talking with him from here out. I don't want Alex to do it, because I honestly think this guy will purposely try to provoke Alex into a fight. So - Mom is going to get either a finished product, or all of the components by this coming Wednesday.
What we've decided is that we're just going to take the diamond and have it set in a plain solitaire for now. When we can afford to, we'll go through a new design process with a different designer. For now - we just want our diamond back, and we want it to be on my finger where it belongs.
I can't tell you how awkward it is to say, "my fiance..." and then people look immediately at my finger. Then, I have to explain at least part of the whole bitter story.
Suffice it to say, Alex and I aren't planning on using any more family friends for anything. Wedding or otherwise. The reason? If something is unsatisfactory - we need to be able to NOT worry about the relationship, and just worry about getting what we have paid for.
This ring thing has been a NIGHTMARE just almost start to finish. We both hope that this was our huge obstacle - and the rest of the wedding planning will go smoothly. :) We can dream, can't we??
-b
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
